COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Princeton downs Lafayette

EASTON, Pa. — After hanging around with No. 6 Syracuse deep into the second half Wednesday night, the Princeton Tigers felt like their team was turning a bit of a corner.

They got a chance to prove it Saturday, blasting Lafayette 72-53 in a matinee tipoff at the Leopards’ Kirby Sports Center.

“Lafayette’s a very good team in their own right, but when you can go up to Syracuse and pull it to with five or six points in the second half, you know you can play,” said senior forward Ian Hummer. “Coming into this game, I felt it was really time for us to show what we’re capable of.”

Hummer certainly showed what he was capable of. The 6-foot-7 former first-team All-Ivy selection was dominant attacking the rim, scoring a career-high 28 points on an extremely efficient 12-of-16 shooting effort.

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“I have great teammates that pass the ball very well, and our offense is hard to guard,” he said. “Those two things together really helped me get open and find my spots.”

The Tigers started out the game with a bit of a different look, starting 6-foot-8 Denton Koon instead of the smaller Chris Clement. That extra length worked to Princeton’s advantage on the defensive end of the floor, and the Tigers were able to start the game on a 19-4 run.

“I think it gave us a little bit of moxie, because defensively that’s a lot of length for us,” coach Mitch Henderson said, when asked about Koon.

Despite having the services of center and leading scorer Dan Trist — who had missed the last three games with an ankle injury — the Leopards were never able to get much going offensively and so never made much of a run to get back in the game. Princeton held Lafayette to just 35 percent shooting from the field.

“We’re very pleased with what we were able to do defensively,” Henderson said. “That kid Trist has been shooting the ball nicely, so that was a concern for us. Brendan (Connolly) and Mack (Darrow) did a nice job on him. Overall, this is the kind of defensive team that we can be.”

Princeton also got a nice offensive effort from junior guard T.J. Bray, who scored 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Bray had really yet to find his offensive rhythm after suffering an offseason knee injury.

“I’m feeling a lot healthier now over the last couple of weeks, it has just been a slow process trying to get my strength back so I can stop on a dime,” he said. “That’s been the biggest thing, trying to get my feet back underneath me.”

After getting outrebounded in consecutive games, the Tigers should also feel good about their work on the glass. Princeton outrebounded Lafayette 39-23.

Junior forward Will Barrett chipped in 13 points for the Tigers, while Connolly had 5 points and 7 rebounds. Trist and guard Tony Johnson led the way for Lafayette with 10 each.

Princeton will try to maintain its momentum Wednesday night when it travels to Staten Island to take on the Wagner Seahawks.